Building community confidence in community corrections

Date

2020-08-16

Authors

Bartels, Lorana
Weatherburn, Don

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Sydney

Abstract

It is inevitable that some people granted conditional release will (re)offend, but most will complete their order without incident. Nevertheless, the standard approach adopted by correctional agencies to communicating with the public about community corrections is one of minimal information. We suggest that this may create an impression that offenders are dark shadowy figures incapable of change or redemption. To address this, we set out an agenda for Australian governments to build public confidence in community corrections. We call for more robust program evaluation, publication of the results and regular updates on trends in successful order completion. We also highlight the importance of educating the public about crime and corrections and the need to improve the credibility of community corrections. Finally, governments should do more to humanise offenders. The public has a right to know more about how offenders are managed in the community. They also deserve to hear the stories behind the statistics.

Description

Keywords

Australia, community corrections, corrections agencies, public confidence, public opinion

Citation

Lorana Bartels & Don Weatherburn (2020) Building community confidence in community corrections, Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 32:3, 292-308, DOI: 10.1080/10345329.2020.1801150

Source

Current Issues in Criminal Justice

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

Open Access

License Rights

Restricted until

Downloads